Jan 14 (LNP) The government has directed the police and army to recognise the media accreditation card issued by the Information Department. This follows representations made by Tamil journalists to Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa that security authorities do not recognise the Media Accreditation Card. more..

Jan 14 (LNP) POWER and Energy Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne has embarked upon a broad mission of minimising waste, corruption and loss at the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to make it a productive national venture soon, a Power and Energy Ministry media release said yesterday. more..

Jan 14 (DN) THE UNESCO regional office in association with the Archaeology Department, University of Peradeniya will carryout an exercise on cultural mapping of the heritage city of Kandy in 2005/2006. The phace one of the awareness programme, a two-day exhibition and seminar programme will be held at the Peradeniya University premises on January 18 and 19. more..

Jan 14 (NDTV) The recent suicide attack by Tamil Tigers on a Sri Lankan navy vessel has put peace talks under pressure. The attack came at a time when the country is on the brink of yet another war. While the fragile peace between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government has been threatened, the repercussions are being felt in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram town. more..

Jan 14 (CI) Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, has criticised Sri Lanka's slow approach to batting in the first match of the VB Series that Australia won by 116 runs at the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. Ponting said that he didn't understand why Sri Lanka held back Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Atapattu to No. 6 and 7 when Sri Lanka were chasing 319 for victory. more..

Jan 14 (AFP) Australian crowds continued to torment Muttiah Muralitharan at Docklands stadium on Friday, repeating the taunts that once angered him so much he pulled out of a 2004 Test tour of the country. Muralitharan was greeted by chants of "no ball" from large sections of the crowd at Melbourne's Telstra Dome as he bowled during Sri Lanka's opening tri-series one-day match against Australia. more..

Jan 14 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka Army averted a Tamil Tiger rebels claymore mine attack targeting Security Forces vehicles plying on the Anuradhapura Trincomalee road after detecting two claymore mines Friday. The Army and police conducted a search operation in this road after they heard an explosion around 12:40 p.m. when a bus carrying Army personnel passed the area. more..

Jan 14 (AFP) Scandinavian truce monitors were hit by a bomb attack as violence escalated in Sri Lanka and security forces found more deadly mines aimed at them, the defence ministry said. The pre-dawn bomb attack against the Norwegian-led SLMM on Saturday damaged four vehicles and caused no casualties, more..

Jan 14 (AP) Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated an anti-personnel mine in northern Sri Lanka on Saturday, killing two navy sailors and injuring one other, a navy spokesman said. "It was a Claymore explosion targeting three sailors who were on patrol. Two died and one injured," navy spokesman Cmdr. D.K.P Dassanayake said. more..

Jan 14 (AFP) A man walks past trucks of the Norwegian-led SLMM in the capital Colombo. Scandinavian truce monitors were hit by a bomb attack as violence escalated in Sri Lanka and security forces found more deadly mines aimed at them, more..

Jan 15 (SLBC) The tsunami housing reconstruction project in the north and east plans to build over 13 thousand houses this year. A sum of 1.86 billion rupees has been allocated for the project. The ministry of Nation Building and Development and lined state institutions carry out the project. more..

Jan 15 (SLBC) Admission of children for grade one in schools for this year will commence next Thursday. The ministry of education says children will be admitted to national schools and schools under provincial education ministries. Commissioner of appeals of the Education ministry P. Samarasekara says finalised name lists of students have already been sent to relevant principals. more..

Jan 15 (AFP) Asia will make a joint bid for the 2011 cricket World Cup with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh agreeing to host the mega event, officials said. "The four Test nations from Asia have reached an understanding and a written bid will be made in the next few days," Indian cricket chief Sharad Pawar told reporters more..

Jan 15 (LT) President Mahinda Rajapakse will present a cabinet paper emphasizing that Sri Lanka continues to accept �One China� policy of the People�s Republic of China and government politicians and officials refrain from having any diplomatic relations with Taiwan. more..

Jan 15 (LT) President Mahinda Rajapakse has decided to appoint former Chief of Staff of S.L. Navy Mohan Wijewickrema as the Governor for the Provinces of North and the East. Present Governor of the N/E Provincial Council Mr. Tyrone Fernando will be appointed as a consultant for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. more..

Jan 15 (LT) The bodies of the 9 S.L. Navy soldiers who were killed in a claymore bomb attack at �Kurusa� Junction at Chettikulam in Mannar were handed over to their relatives yesterday. Bodies were brought to police mortuary at Borella last morning where the inquests were held after which they were handed over to the relatives last night. more..

Jan 15 (TW) The telephone threat made by President Mahinda Rajapakse to the Editor, The Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge and the ensuing furore last week stunned diplomats and shocked civil society. more..

Jan 15 (AT) The Tamil National flag is the symbol of tomorrow�s independent Tamil Eelam. This was revealed in a handbook on the Tamil National Flag. Recently released handbook has generated a keen interest locally and internationally at the backdrop of the ongoing �Stealth War,� the LTTE has launched more..

Jan 15 (AT) The grenade lobbed into the garage of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Batticoloa on Friday night has confirmed the doubts expressed by the SLMM about the existence of the Ceasefire Agreement, analysts told the Asian Tribune. more..

Jan 15 (LS) The situation in Sri Lanka has come to a climax. It demands the government of Sri Lanka to come to terms with the reality by coming out of its indecisive state. The delay in manoeuvring a firm stand on key issues only would exacerbate the plight that the country is forced to face upon while giving the upper hand to the LTTE in what ever front they choose; war or peace. more..

Jan 15 (AT) Higher Education of Jaffna University students are to be suspended, until the birth of the Independent Tamil Eelam by 14 January 2007, on the next Thai Pongal Day. This is said to be the expected D-day the Tamils are suppose to joyously celebrate the dawn of an independent homeland, according to the Leaders of the LTTE. more..

Jan 15 (AT) Nature abhors a vacuum, so, it seems, does politics. The government�s obvious inability to respond effectively to the Tiger challenge has created a dangerous politico-psychological vacuum. Nowhere is this more evident than in the multi-ethnic, multi-religious East, where Sinhala hegemonic forces are stepping into the breach created by the President�s mishandling of the security issue. more..

Jan 15 (AT) A fresh dispute has arisen with regard to the recruitment of home guards to the Trincomalee district, following authorities wanting to station the new recruits in villages other than their hometowns. more..

Jan 15 (ANN) Sri Lanka�s tourism industry, which never fully recovered from the debilitating tsunami, is now warning that the deteriorating security situation could spell further doom. While official statistics show an increase in tourist arrivals during the first eight months of last year, there was consensus among industry experts that those figures are not reliable. more..

Jan 15 (TN) "The [Sri Lanka] government claimed that it had nothing to do with this [Karuna] group and was not aware of their existence. But when we visited the spot in the east and asked the Sri Lankan army where we could find Karuna, they told us where to go. So it was clear that the local army knew where he was," more..

Jan 15 (SLA) Members of the LTTE pistol group has shot and killed a civilian in the ARIYAMPATHI area, BATTICALOA, on 14 January 2006 around 1.00 p.m.The victim has been identified as NAMAN RAJAN (29) of ARIYAMPATHI east, BATTICALOA. The SLMM has been informed. The BATTICALOA Police are conducting investigations.

Jan 15 (SLA) A length of wire laid at a place near the POOWARASANKULAM Maha Vidyalaya on the VAVUNIYA � MANNAR road were recovered by Police personnel on route clearing Saturday (14) around 7.20 a.m. It is believed that this wire length had been brought by the LTTE to the location to detonate a claymore mine or similar Improvised Explosive Device.

Jan 15 (SLA) An Improvised land mine and three anti personnel mines have been recovered by the Air Force troops on Saturday (14) around 9.47 a.m. from PANKULAM in TRINCOMALEE. Later, the Air Force Bomb Disposal Team has defused them. Meanwhile, following information, Naval troops have found six batteries (9 V), one remote controller and one electric circuit from PESALAI, MANNAR on 15 January 2006.

Jan 15 (SLA) Members of Armed Forces and Police personnel joined hundreds of Hindu devotees who were celebrating Thai Pongal Day in Jaffna and elsewhere throughout Saturday (14) as it marks an important day of offering related to their agricultural harvests. more..

Jan 15 (ISL) A report yesterday (January 14, 2006) states that the Norway-led international peace monitors have had a grenade attack on their premises in Batticaloa, East Sri Lanka. Separately, two sailors have been killed by landmines in the north. more..

Jan 15 (ISL) There are disturbing reports from Toronto, Canada about parents warning their children not to answer the door when someone rings the bell. They are warned of bad men at the door. The bad men are the LTTE fund collectors for what they claim as the final war: Iruthippor. more..

Jan 15 (ISL) On 13 January 2006 around 5:10 pm, 50 Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers entered, Thiagavanam, an area under LTTE control in Trincomalee. The soldiers entered an LTTE camp and conducted an attack on the Forward Defense Line (FDL). LTTE fought back and the SLA soldiers withdrew. more..

Jan 15 (LeN) The CID was investigating the explosion at the SLMM office in Batticaloa as police beefed up security of the ceasefire monitors who had requested additional security. Special CID team went to Batticaloa now and report from the gov. analyst is awaited the determine the nature of the explosion. more..

Jan 15 (LeN) The hartal (civil unrest) launched in Tricomalee by two Sinhala organizations were suspended today following an assurance given to organizers by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to ensure the safety of the Sinhala community in Tricomalee. more..

Jan 15 (LT) The Speaker and many Parliamentarians of all parties representing the Parliament except MPs of the JVP have got down luxury vehicles using the tax free permit given to them. Some of the Parliamentarians who have got down �Prado Intercooler� type luxury vehicles which cost about Rs.9 million are... more..

Jan 15 (PIS) TamilNet � the pro-LTTE web site � last week deliberately or accidentally reported Australia�s reaction to the current situation in Sri Lanka by citing an outdated statement which dealt more mildly with the Tigers than the country�s latest declaration. more..

Jan 15 (PIS) The United States is sending a top level team to Sri Lanka comprising agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of State. They will arrive in Colombo on January 24. Among other matters the team will familiarize themselves with the prevailing security situation and activities of the LTTE. more..

Jan 15 (ANN) In what diplomats regard as one of the strongest statements it has issued in recent times, the Nordic-staffed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on Friday (Jan 13) faulted both the Tiger rebels and the government on the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the northeast that is inexorably dragging the country back to war. more..

Jan 15 (LNP) Most Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Mahanayaka Thera of the Malwatte Mahavihara Chapter observed that there were a large number of `foundations` operating in the country under various names but most of them were upto various corrupt practices and hardly anything was done by them for the benefit of suffering masses who were in need of assistance. more..

Jan 15 (LNP) President Mahinda Rajapakse seems to prefer the cold climes of Iceland for talks with the LTTE, or at least he mooted the idea in a lighter vein during a meeting he had with the co-chairs to discuss the peace process and the security situation, officials involved in the talks said. more..

Jan 15 (LNP) UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema yesterday called for an early end to the simmering leadership dispute. `This is not the time to fight among ourselves,` the outgoing Chairman said referring to a range of overwhelming problems faced by President Mahinda Rajapakse`s administration. more..

Jan 15 (SAMN) The leadership crisis triggered by the November 17 presidential poll result is unlikely to dislodge Ranil Wickremesinghe from the party leadership. Wickremesinghe is also expected to retain the post of Opposition Leader The Sunday Island learns. more..

Jan 15 (SAMN) Two senior Presidential Secretariat officials are believed to have been closeted with IGP Chandra Fernando late last week for about nine hours at his office where they discussed police transfers The Sunday Island learns. This comes in the backdrop of the National Police Commission (NPC) ceasing to function. Fernando was not available for comment. more..

Jan 15 (SAMN) Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga in her Thai Pongal message hoped the festival would lead to an era devoid of hate, anger and enmity. The former President said,"Thai Pongal" is a festival to honour the Sun for a bountiful harvest; in other words it is a ritual of nature-worship. more..

Jan 15 (SO) On a written request made by members of Maha Sangha representing more than 30 leading Buddhist Temples in the Northern, Eastern and North Central Provinces, leading members of Maha Sangha of three main sects (Nikayas) have appealed to President Mahinda Rajapakse, the leadership of the LTTE and the International Community to take effective steps to prevent a war of any form taking place in the country again. more..

Jan 15 (IPS) There was nothing unusual about the two police officers leaning languidly against their patrol car and watching a group of protesting journalists in Colombo, on a cloudy afternoon, last week. To all appearances, it was business as usual. more..

Jan 15 (Reuters) A new group of Sri Lankan Tamils has landed on the Indian coast claiming they are fleeing war in the island nation, police said on Sunday. The group of 10 arrived by boat near the famous pilgrim town of Rameswaram, about 550 kms south of Chennai, capital of southern Tamil Nadu state, late on Saturday evening. more..

Jan 15 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels have condemned a bomb attack against Scandinavian truce monitors as an attempt to wreck an already troubled ceasefire with government forces. The rebel LTTE said they were "extremely disturbed and concerned" about Saturday's bomb attack in the eastern town of Batticaloa against the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). more..

Jan 15 (AP) Soldiers in full battle gear manned checkpoints and patrolled Sri Lanka's capital Sunday after an intelligence report warned that Tamil Tiger suicide bombers may target prominent landmarks in Colombo. more..